Transforming Places for Locals into Places for Tourists

Month: November 2015

Order Palo Duck Noodles Soup or Bee Hoon Soup here. The noodles tastes like instant noodles and I love to eat instant noodles. If instant noodles is the replica, this would be the real deal. It tastes eggy and bouncy. The noodles are homemade and the ducks are braised at the back of the shop. My only complaint is that the soup maybe a little salty and seems like they added some MSG in the soup. The bee hoon soup version tastes good too, so you can order one of each.

There is a certain quality of Wok Hei in soupy dishes as well. For some reason, maybe due to the sodium level or the viscosity in the soup, the duck noodles is served hot and remains hot for a long time. I believe that the reason food served hot tastes better is because the higher temperature is when the aroma exudes the most and there must be some kind of scientific basis where the smell of the food appeals to us more than the actual taste.

Palo Duck Noodle Soup

There is a stall that sells freshly peeled mangoes with sticky rice opposite this Palo Duck Noodles shop. Take note that you should buy from the one opposite and not the mango stall outside the Palo Duck Noodles shop. While the usual mangoes are sweet and juicy, I only settle for a rare type of mangoes where its fragrance overwhelms its sweetness. It’s call Orb Long mangoes and they only appear in season in April to June. Will review more about the Orb Long mangoes in April next year.

Opening hours:-

9:30AM to 7:00PM daily.

Closed on days when they are tired, says the lady boss with a twinkle in her eye.

The name of the stall is Fish Porridge but you really should have the Fried Rice with diced shrimp here. Ah Jie’s late husband used to be a hero in Hatyai, his shop was on the main road when I was a small kid. People would crowd around his wok waiting for their food while he works his magic. If he is still around, I am sure his shop would still deservedly be the most crowded shop in Hatyai at dinnertime. According to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ah Jie inherited The Force from him making her one of the last remaining Jedi Masters in Hatyai.

Each grain of the fried rice is adequately fried almost to the point of being burnt yet maintaining its moisture. In every mouthful, you would know that the rice is drenched in essence of the eggs. The taste of the shrimps is faint yet present due to the juices of the duly diced up shrimps spread out evenly over the fried rice. The occasional crunch of the celery gives your mouth a relief from the rich and full bodied fried rice.

Fried Rice with Diced Shrimps

The other dish you should order to go with the fried rice is the Tom Yam Naam Saai Nuer Plaa or Clear Tom Yam with Sliced Fish meat. You would have to order specifically as it is. The Naam Saai part means that it is the clear soup version of Tom Yum without the red chilli sauce. The Nuer Plaa part specifies that it has to be sliced fish meat as Ah Jie’s sliced fish meat is usually fresher than her fish head meat.

Tom Yam Naam Saai Nuer Plaa

This shop is in a remote dark alley about 150m off the main road from Wat Chuechang; it is off the tourist trail. Be warned that dining at Ah Jie’s is not cheap. A meal for two can easily costs upwards of 500 baht. I can only guess it is Ah Jie’s way of earning her keep while keeping the sane away.

This is one of the long standing foodie landmarks in Hatyai. Most of the customers are Malaysians and Singaporeans. The Wan Tan Mee is decent but not fantastic. To me, the noodles is of a lower grade than what we can get elsewhere. Since it is the most popular Wan Tan Mee shop in Hatyai, you might as well come down and try if you are in town. Maybe you would think that the noodles tastes better than I do.

I come here to eat once in a while as they serve one of the better Char Siew York in Hatyai. Most of the Char Siew York you will find in Thailand are actually pork belly boiled and dipped into red color food dye. The Char Siew York here is probably the main highlight that draws in the customers as you can see from the picture that they did barbecue the Char Siew York and not just blatantly boiled it. Do not expect the Hong Kong standard or Shah Alam Meng Kee Char Siew York though.

Wan Tan Mee DryWan Tan Mee Soup

The shop serves other food like satay and pork trotters and roast duck etc. The attendants may ask if you want to order the whole suite of items in their menu. I recommend that you should just stick to the Wan Tan Mee.

After the meal, you can treat yourself to a foot massage or Thai massage on the second floor of Sakura Grand View Hotel (the newer one) nearby. It is a cheap and fuss free place to enjoy the half hearted service by the masseurs while they grumble among themselves. Remember to buy the foot or Thai massage coupon from the tour agency opposite the hotel to get it at a lower rate. This is a local eccentricity in Hatyai where buying a coupon from the tour agency next door is cheaper than paying at the place itself. Because we can.

There are 3 chicken rice shops in and near Hatyai city that serves up chicken rice that can match up to my pretentiously high standards. One is Mui Kee, the other is the famous one in Thunglung on the way from Malaysia to Hatyai and the last ultimate one I don’t want to tell you. There are many hidden gems in Thailand that are thankfully shielded from the hordes of tourists and food bloggers by the language barrier and their locations being out of the tourist radar.

Miu Kee has been selling chicken rice in Hatyai for more than 30 years. My dad ate in its old shop for lunch almost everyday when he first came to Thailand in the late 70s. He says it still does taste the same. That is one of the most endearing things about Hatyai. Times may have changed but the standard of the food does not. I remember my mom bought a pack of Mui Kee chicken rice and brought it over on the then still running Thai Airways flight to Singapore for me to eat while I was in Primary School. That was the best dabao ever.

The chicken is nice and moist while the skin is sinfully smooth. The boss would debone the chicken completely and slice it up into perfect thin slices. This is so that the thin slices can soak up as much of the wonderful homemade sauce they have in the shop as possible. You have to ask specifically for it, its called the special sauce with lemon or Nam Jim Manaaw. Do not think that you can concoct a second epic sauce yourself with the range of condiments that they have on the table like ground ginger, fermented bean sauce, chilli bits and dark soy sauce. Because I have tried. And I have failed. For 20 years.

The boss speaks chinese, english and hainanese fluently so ordering is a breeze.